About Us

The Digital Trust Centre (DTC) is a national centre that leads Singapore’s research and development efforts in trust technologies, including AI Safety. The objectives of the DTC, which also houses the Singapore AI Safety Institute, are to enable industry digitalisation and to build a strong core of talent to strengthen Singapore’s status as a trusted hub in the digital economy. Our work is funded by a $50 million grant from Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the National Research Foundation (NRF), starting from 1 October 2022.

The DTC is hosted at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and aims to advance scientific research capabilities in trust technology, grow Singapore’s trust technology industry, and build a strong core of talent.

Our key objectives include:

  • Coordinating research grant calls: Addressing industry problem statements and helping build a competitive edge through novel intellectual property (IP).
  • Developing sandboxes: Collaborating with industry to experiment with trust technologies, proving the value and viability of solutions through demonstrators and minimum viable products (MVPs).
  • Providing research engineering support: Co-developing solutions with leading enterprises and high-growth startups capable of adopting early trust technologies.
  • Cementing Singapore as a thought leader: Engaging in international exchanges to build mindshare and influence global standards in digital trust and governance.
  • Grooming talent: Scaling up research capabilities to create indigenous expertise in trust technologies.

As Singapore’s AI safety institute and the national centre for research in digital trust, DTC will collaborate with industry partners, academic institutions, and the government. The goal is to create a trusted digital environment for individuals and businesses to fully embrace the opportunities of digital transformation with trust and safe AI.

Executive Director's Message

Dear Friends of DTC,

It is my pleasure to welcome you to the Digital Trust Centre (DTC).

Hosted at the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), DTC was launched on 1 November 2022 to spearhead Singapore's research and innovation in a new and exciting field called Trust Tech. An innovative set of technologies designed to build and enhance trust in the digital economy, we believe Trust Tech holds the key to creating a digital world that is safe, transparent and accountable. On top of cutting-edge research with real-world impact, we will also nurture valuable talents to meet rising demand for manpower in this emerging field and engage international partners to promote the development and adoption of Trust Tech in the borderless digital economy. To help us realise our goals, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the National Research Foundation (NRF) has invested $50 million in DTC over the next five years.

We will judiciously deploy our resources in three strategic ways to achieve DTC’s objectives and maximise returns. First and foremost, we plan to train a substantial pool of researchers and engineers to drive Trust Tech research and innovation in Singapore. Secondly, we will spearhead Trust Tech research excellence in local Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and Research Institutes (RIs) through our research grant call. Thirdly, by leveraging on DTC’s engineering resources and our innovation grant call, we will engage and support Singapore-based companies to facilitate their digital transformation and participation in the digital economy through the adoption of effective Trust Tech. We believe that this three-pronged strategy will ultimately propel Singapore to become one of the global leaders in Trust Tech.     

We are optimistic of our future. Built on the strong foundation of our research capabilities, our ecosystem efforts and international network are already growing rapidly. In Singapore, we are working closely with collaborators in IHLs to drive research and breakthroughs in critical areas of Trust Tech. We are also collaborating with renowned industry leaders to solve real-world problems that call for Trust Tech solutions. At the same time, our international footprint is expanding with each passing day. In addition to world-renowned research institutions, we are also working with international forums, world summits and public-private initiatives across the world. All these have happened thanks to the strong support of our funding agencies and the collective efforts of the stakeholders of DTC’s Trust Tech ecosystem. 

The journey to digitalisation is bound to have many challenges ahead, especially in our world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity (VUCA). Let’s not forget that opportunities in the digital economy abound too. Trust Tech, we believe, has tremendous growth potential, not least because – again, for emphasis – it holds the key to a safe, transparent and accountable digital world. I urge you to join us in this exciting and meaningful journey.  

I hope you find the information on our website useful and informative. Please feel free to reach out to us too at [email protected] if you need more info. Thank you.

Professor Lam Kwok Yan
Executive Director, Digital Trust Centre (DTC)